How Gen Z was Damaged by Social Media
00:00:00.000 | I have this analysis of what happened at Gen Z. I paint Gen Z as a generation that's been damaged,
00:00:04.400 | that's going to be less than they would have been. They're less ambitious, they're less
00:00:07.360 | successful, they're less happy, they're less competent. I've given a version of this talk
00:00:10.880 | in middle schools, in high schools, in universities. They always ask at the end of it,
00:00:14.560 | "What do you think? Did I get your generation wrong?" Maybe one time, someone said, "I think
00:00:18.880 | you got this wrong." The other, you know, thousands and thousands and thousands of times, they say,
00:00:22.800 | "Yep, that's basically right." Now, maybe some of them are too shy to speak up, but my point is,
00:00:26.800 | young kids, like 9, 10, they desperately want phone, TikTok, everything. But by the time they're
00:00:31.840 | in late high school, or certainly college, the overwhelming view I find among Gen Z is, "Wow,
00:00:36.880 | did this mess us up. Not that I'm going to quit because I don't want to be alone, but man, did
00:00:40.400 | this mess us up." And that's why when you ask them, "Do you wish social media was never invented?"
00:00:44.640 | Most of them say, "Yes, I wish it was never invented." That's why this is so different
00:00:48.640 | from any previous tech panic, is that the kids themselves see the problem.